The Palo Alto School District includes 19 school sites. The money from Measure A was intended to help the district repair aging facilities throughout the district. The district had a rising enrollment at the time of the 2008 vote.

A 1995 bond issue in the school district was expiring just at the time that Measure A was under consideration. This meant that taxpayers would not necessarily see a rise in the property tax rates, as the new bond was projected to maintain the (set to expire) fee of $44.50 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Election results

Support

A local group that supported passage of Measure A was known as "Strong Schools for a Strong Community." Samir Tuma was one of four co-chairs of the group.

Opposition

Opposition to the ballot measure was led by Palo Alto resident Wayne Martin and San Jose resident Allen Rice. Their concern was that the language of the bond measure was not clear enough about how the $378 million would be spent.